The municipality was located on the Romsdal peninsula surrounding the Frænfjorden, the eastern shore of the Julsundet strait, and includes most of the Hustadvika area.

Moxy Engineering, Hustad Marmor, and Tine Meierier are all factories located in Elnesvågen.

Other villages in Fræna included Hustad, Bud, Tornes, Sylte, Malme, and Aureosen.

[7][8] The municipality (originally the parish) was first named Vaagø, after the old Vaagøen farm (Old Norse: Vágøy) since the first Vågøy Church was built there.

Another option was that it comes from the word frenje which means "foam" or "howl", referring to the local fjord in high winds.

[10] On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality from Frænen to Fræna.

The official blazon is "Or, three bars wavy azure crested to the dexter on the upper edge" (Norwegian: På gull botn tre blå bjelkar der overkantane er teikna med kvervelsnitt).

[15] The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fræna was made up of 31 representatives that were elected to four year terms.

The party breakdown for the final municipal council was as follows: The mayors of Fræna (incomplete list):